Driving School Closures, EPA Revokes Endangerment Finding and A Breath of Fresh Air: What I’m Reading This Week

For the past few weeks, I have found myself in awe of so many talented Olympic athletes. There is so much excellence, so much emotion and so much international diplomacy on display.

I really appreciate these athletes who choose to be open and honest about their struggles. These elite athletes are prone to injury; they’re also prone to anxiety, burnout, depression and so much else that comes from the sheer pressure to always be perfect at the world stage.

These athletes could keep their struggles to themselves and let them be seen as seemingly invincible. But a growing number are choosing to be vulnerable and their authentic selves.

It hurt to watch Atle Lie McGrath walk off the Alpine skiing course after he found one ski on the wrong side of the slalom in his final run. McGrath is grieving—he lost his grandfather on the night of the opening ceremonies—and he wanted to honor the man who was so important to him.

NBC aired a conversation between Mikaela Shiffrin and Simone Biles about how they had to walk away from the pressure and find their way back to the sport they once loved. It made both their victories that much sweeter to witness.

And then there was the sheer terror 13 seconds after Lindsey Vonn left the gate in that tragic accident. Her statement a few days later was so profound that I still get the chills reading it. Here’s an excerpt:

“And similar to ski racing, we take risks in life. We dream. We love. We jump. And sometimes we fall. Sometimes our hearts are broken. Sometimes we don’t achieve the dreams we know we could have. But that is the also the beauty of life; we can try. 

I tried. I dreamt. I jumped.

I hope if you take away anything from my journey it’s that you all have the courage to dare greatly. Life is too short not to take chances on yourself. Because the only failure in life is not trying.

I believe in you, just as you believed in me.”

But it’s 20-year-old Alysa Liu whose short program and long program utterly entranced me this Winter Olympics. Liu became the first American female skater to win individual gold in 24 years. The youngest-ever U.S. women’s national champion retired from the sport in 2022. She found her way back to skating for herself, on her own terms. How lucky we are to be spectators. Liu’s two performances were mesmerizing, and her grace and generous sportsmanlike conduct are a model for how to treat others.

If you haven’t watched the Olympics, I hope you have found something else that has inspired you. Until next time, stay safe, be well and be kind!

Driving School Closures

More than 550 commercial driving schools in the U.S. are closing.

The U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) conducted over 1,400 site visits in December, the Associated Press reports. The agency determined 448 schools employed unqualified instructors, failed to test students’ skills or teach them how to handle hazardous materials and used the wrong equipment to teach divers. And rather than go through the inspections, another 109 schools opted to close.

These were active schools, marking a change in approach. The Trump administration started reviewing commercial driving schools following a fatal accident in August. The accident investigation found the truck driver who made an illegal U-turn was not authorized to be in the U.S. Last fall, the administration decertified up to 7,500 schools, which included many defunct operations.

A peculiarity for the industry is that schools and trucking companies can, in essence, self-certify when they apply to begin operations. There’s no inspection before a license to operate is issued, as is the case with restaurants, so issues aren’t always detected until, when, or if the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration conducts an audit.

Both the American Trucking Association and the Owner Operator Independent Drivers Association applauded the administration’s actions.

Read more about the closures here, and read more about DOT and OSHA policies in transition here. 

EPA Revokes Endangerment Finding

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has revoked the landmark 2009 endangerment finding, the linchpin for nearly all climate and greenhouse gas regulations under the Clean Air Act.

The endangerment finding determined that carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases pose a risk to public health and welfare. By rescinding the endangerment finding, the EPA will no longer have the authority to set standards for certain motor vehicle emissions; it would likely open the door to other greenhouse gas emissions regulations, including those on power plants and oil and gas facilities.

The White House said the roll back would save the American people $1.3 trillion, but where those savings would come from isn’t immediately clear.

Legal challenges were expected, and a coalition of health and environmental groups have already sued the EPA. The Supreme Court previously upheld the endangerment finding.

The EPA also announced it will propose a two-year delay to a Biden-era rule restricting greenhouse gas emissions by cars and light trucks and end incentives for automakers who install automatic start-stop ignition systems in their vehicles.

Read more about this developing story here.

A Breath of Fresh Air

Sommeliers will tell you it’s important to let your red wine breathe before drinking it, so why not your house?

The latest trend on social media is actually an old practice—a reminder that what’s old is new again—but I still find its simplicity and origins fascinating.

“Lüften” is a German word that translates to “ventilate.” It is a practice that means opening your windows to eliminate stale air. Landlords in Germany require tenants to air out their apartments at least once daily no matter the weather. You may note this is a peculiar request, but it makes sense once you consider that the responsibility of mold removal is often the landlord.

Some Americans are putting their own spin on the practice by calling it “house burping.”

I remember hearing about the importance of opening windows during the early days of COVID-19. And, it turns out, there’s a lot of evidence to support the practice. Many experts agree that better ventilation in homes can help reduce the concentration of volatile organic compounds (VOCs), reduce mold and eliminate many airborne toxins.

Spurred on by this article, I opened my windows on an unseasonably warm winter day. It may have been a placebo effect, but I felt refreshed afterwards, too. The real challenge will be opening windows during allergy season, when those microparticles can flow in on the breeze, too.

Read more here.